Interserve named on £60m sewage plant contract

FM firm is preferred bidder to build plant to generate biogas from sewage, as well as upgrading existing facilities

Facilities management giant Interserve has been named preferred bidder for a £60m contract to build and upgrade a sludge digestion plant for Thames Water.

Interserve will build a thermal hydrolysis plant, a type of processing plant that uses heat to create biogas from sewage. It will also refit digestion equipment and make changes in order to meet the Thames Water's new operating agreement.

The plant will take material from the Riverside sewage treatment works and the nearby Beckton treatment works. Interserve said it expected to sign the contract this autumn.

Adrian Ringrose, Interserve chief executive, said, "This will be another significant contract with Thames Water, with whom we have worked closely over a number of years. We will be building on the success and longevity of the relationship we have to provide these new facilities."